Krüppel-like factor 5 is essential for proliferation and survival of mouse intestinal epithelial stem cells

•Krüppel-like factor 5 (Klf5) is expressed in intestinal crypt stem cells.•Klf5 regulates proliferation and apoptosis in intestinal crypt stem cells.•Lgr5-driven deletion of Klf5 results in intestinal stem cell loss over long term.

Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) is a pro-proliferative transcription factor that is expressed in dividing epithelial cells of the intestinal crypt. Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5) has been identified as a stem cell marker in both small intestinal and colonic epithelial cells. To determine whether KLF5 regulates proliferation of intestinal stem cells, we investigated the effects of Klf5 deletion specifically from the intestinal stem cells in adult mice. Mice with inducible intestinal stem cell-specific deletion of Klf5 (Lgr5-Klf5fl/fl) were injected with tamoxifen for 5 consecutive days to induce Lgr5-driven Cre expression. Intestinal and colonic tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry at various time points up to 112 days following start of tamoxifen treatment. Klf5 is co-localized in the crypt-based columnar (CBC) cells that express Lgr5. By 11 days following the start of tamoxifen treatment, Lgr5-positive crypts from which Klf5 was deleted exhibited a loss of proliferation that was accompanied by an increase in apoptosis. Beginning at 14 days following the start of tamoxifen treatment, both Klf5 expression and proliferation were re-established in the transit-amplifying epithelial cells but not in the Lgr5-positive CBC cells. By 112 days post-treatment, up to 90% of the Lgr5-positive cells from which Klf5 was deleted were lost from the intestinal crypts. These results indicate a critical role for KLF5 in the survival and maintenance of intestinal stem cells.